Can-end-feeding device.



A. L. KRONQUEST.

CAN END FEEDING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE s. 1912.

1 1 48, 1 75 Patented July 27, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

i l #QM/@AWA @/MMM @ttor/14u15 :o lmmm PLANOGRAPH co.. WASHINGTON. u. c,

A. L. KRONQUEST.

CAN END FEEDING DEVICE.

APPLlcAnoN man JUNE 3. 19142.

1,148,1 '75. Patented July 27, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

'A. L. KRONQUEST. CAN END 'FEEDING DEVICE.

vM'PLlcArloN FILED JUNE 3. w12.

l, 1 48, 1 75 Patented Jul-y 27, 1915.

nTENToFr-ICE ALFRED 1..KE0NQUEsT, or cnrcAGo, TLL1Nors',Assre-Non, EY MEsNE ASSIGNMENTS,

To CONTINENTAL CAN COMPANY, TNC., A conroEATroN or NEW YORK. i

,CAN-END-FEEDING, DEVICE.

y Specification of Letters Patent. v Patented July 1915.`

Application led .Tune 3, 1912. Serial No. 70.1,362.

To all whom 'it may concern.'

Be it known that I, ALFRED L. -Knorr- QUEsT, a citizen of the United States, residing'atChicago, in thecounty of Cook, State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Can-End-Feeding Devices, of which 'the following is a description, reference being hadto the accompanying drawing and to the figures of reference marked thereon.

The invention relates to new rand useful improvements in feeding devices for delivering can ends one at a time to a seaming mechanism. v e y An object of the invention is to provide means for accelerating the travel of the ends after they are released from the stackholder, whereby the rapidity with which the ends are fed f romA the stackholder to they operating devices therefor may be increased.

VA further object lof the invention is to provide means located between the operating devices for the can'ends and the stackholder for yieldingly engaging and conveying 'the ends through the chute which leads to the operating devices, whereby the ends are forced through the chute.

These and other objects will in part be obvious, and will in part be hereinafter more fully disclosed. Y v i In the drawings which show by Wayof "illustration one embodiment of the invention,-Figure lis a front view of a seaming machine having my improved feeding device applied thereto; Fig. Qis an enlarged detail, partly in section, showing the feeding device in side elevation; Fig.'V 3 is a detail view takenfrom theopposite side-of the feeding device; Fig. 4 is a rear vievvV of thefeeding device; andV Fig. 5 is a detail Vshowing the releasing member for the stackholder.

e In the seaming of can ends on to the can bodies, itv has been-customary to feed the tier, in that .the actionof ygravity upon the can ends isnot sufficiently rapid to carry` the can end to the seaming station. This is more especially true where can ends are fed to a multiple seaming machine having a plurality of continuously operating seaming stations.

In order that the travel of thecan ends from the stackholder to the seaming station may beaccelerated and the endscarried tov the seaming station` and delivered thereto, as the seaining station passes by the chute for the can ends,.I haveprovided devices for engaging. the can ends as ,theyA leave the stackholder, for positively :accelerating the speed of the can ends, and for forcing the A same through the delivering. chute to the seaming-station. l

Referring more particularlyto the drawings, I have shownin Fig. l a seaming machine consisting of a supporting base 1on' whichis mounted a rotating carrierQ, which Y is provided with' a plurality of rotating chucks 3 and seamingrollers which coperatefwith the rotating chucks. This rotating carrier carriesy the seaming rollers `'and chucksQpast a receiving point` Where can bodies and can ends are fed to the seamingstation., The carrier vrotates continuously and the end is double-seamed on to. thecan body` during the travel ofthe carrier. These parts are of the usual construction, and will not require further description. ,l

The can bodies are fed from a chute;v to the seaming stations.k The can ends are stacked in a stackholdert. The can ends in the stackholder rest onta tapered ledge at one-side, and on a rotating'releasingvwheel or segment 7 at the other-side.

The releasing wheel 7 is carried by. avertical shaft S, which is operated from ahorizontal shaft 9. The horizontal shaft 9 lcarries a gear 10, which meshes/withagear l:11

on the rotating carrier of a double-seeming machine. n K f Leading from the lower end of thel sackholder isy a chute 12, into. which the can ends drop as they are 'releasedL fromy the stackholdenone at ay time. This chute;v is sufciently wide atv its upperend to Aallow the can -end when one edge thereof is releasedby the rotation of the releasing wheel 7, to swing around into a vertical position, and to drop by gravity into the vertical porf tion-13 of the chute 12. The vertical portion 13 of the chute 12 leads to a point adjacent the rotating carrier 2, so that the .can ends passing through the chute will be delivered to the seaming stations as they pass by the delivering chute for the can ends.

It has been found in practice that where the rotating carrier forv the double-seaming machine is driven at' high speed, the can ends will netpass through the delivering chute with suflicient rapidity tok be carried into the receiving pockets of the sea-ming stations.

1n order to accelerate the travel of the can ends, I have provided a rotating wheel 14, which may be made in the form of a brush, or which may have a rubber contact surface, or which may be made in any other suitable way. This rotating brush is mounted on a shaft 15, which is journaled in a sleeve 16, carried by an arm 17, which 'is connected to a short shaft 1S freely mounted in a supporting lug or bracket19 carried by the main frame ofthe machine. The right hand end of the shaft 15, as viewed in Fig. 4, carries a gear 20, which meshes with a gear 21 loosely mounted on the shaft 18.

A belt wheel 22 is attachedtothe gear 21. Thisbelt wheel rotates the gear 21, which in turn rotates the. gear 20, fand through the shaft 15 operates the rotating brush 14. The wall of the chute 12 is slotted as at 23, and the rotating wheel 14 is so positioned asto project through the slot and across the path lof travel of the can ends in the vertical portion 13 ofthe chute 12.Y AThearm 17 supporting the sleeve 16, in which the shaft 15 is journaled, is free tok turn about the supporting lug or bracket 19 therefor. The wheel 14 rotates in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 3.

The geark wheel 21 rotates also in the direction of the arrow indicated in Fig. 3

of the drawings. This rotation of the gear 21 would tend to cause the gear 20 to travel bodily about the axis of the gear 21, and as v the arm' 17 is freely mounted, the wheel 14 will be forced acrossthe chute for the can ends by the force applied to the gear 21, to rotate the same. y

In other words, the wheel 14 will be yieldinglyrforced across the chute for the can i which is given a quarter turn and engages a 29 on the shaft 9 driven from the rotating carrier of the double-seaming machine.

Frein the above description, it will be apparent-that as the carrier rotates, the shaft 9 will drive the releasing wheel 7 ,and through the countershaft 25 will valso drive the rotating wheel or brush 14. As the can ends are released one at a time from the stackholder, they will drop by gravity into the chute 12, and will pass into the vertical portion 13 thereof. As soon as the can ends come into range ofthe rotating wheel-or brush 14, they will be engaged thereby, and as this brush is rotating rapidly, the speed of travel of the can ends will be greatly accelerated, and the can end will be forced into the vertical portion 13 of the chute along which they move to the seaming station of the double-seaming machine. This rotating brush or wheel not' only accelerates the travel Vof the can ends, but insures the deliveringof the same from the widened portion of the chute 12 into the vertical portion lthereof.

While 1 have shown a rotating wheel for engaging and accelerating the travel of the can ends, it is obvious that other devices may be used for this purpose. Theessential feature of the invention consists in some positively actuated or movingmeans which engages the can ends asthey are fed by gravity, and accelerates the travel of the saine, so that they may be fed with a greater rapidity to the seaming machine than can be accomplished where gravity alone is reliel upon as the force for feeding the can en s.

While 1 have shown my inventiony as applied to the feeding of can ends to a doubleseaxning machine, it willy be obvious that I claim as new and desire to secure by Letl ters Patent, is

A can end feeding device including in combination, a stack-holder, a chute for conveying the can ends by gravity from the stackholder to an operating device, one wall of said chute being slotted, a rotating brush disposed so as to project through said slot *and engage the can ends in the chute, a shaft and pess said brush yieldingly against the supporting said brush, a sleeve in which can ends. 10 said`-`shaft is journaled, a pivoted arm sup- In testimony whereof, I affix my signaf porting said sleeve, a gear Carried by said ture, in the presence of two witnesses. Y, shaft, and a gear meshing with the gear Y A. L. KRONQUEST.

on the shaft, said gears being so disposed Witnesses:

that the rotation of the brushwill cause the A. M. GOODWIN,

arm to swing about its pivotal connection E. E. FINNEGAN.

Copiesof this patent may be obtained for ve cents eac-h, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.l

. 'Washingtonyn C. 

